This is a column about vaping, about which Britain is in a self-sabotaging moral panic. The latest instance of panic showed up in last week's tobacco and vapes bill, which proposed a ban on vape adverts and sponsorship, as well as powers to restrict flavours, packaging and display. We heard that vaping may be banned in non-smoking areas.
Imagine we'd found a way to get millions of people to switch from alcohol, which in this country kills 10,000 people a year, to another kind of substance: still addictive, still not risk-free, but when compared with the booze, pretty harmless. Coffee, say. A public health miracle is hailed.
Parents worry: caffeine is bad for the developing brain. And then some evidence emerges that a couple of chemicals produced in the roasting process are possible carcinogens but mostly in far higher doses than in the average coffee cup.
Let us start with how odd it is to be imposing bans on the most popular and effective aid for quitting smoking that we currently have.
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